With the advent of the Internet, there are many online services that enable one to conduct a search to obtain answers to factual questions. These services are provided through what are commonly referred to as Internet search engines. The search engines allow a user to enter a search request, and the search engine will produce a search list that may include a number of websites or Internet publications containing the key word(s) searched. Various levels of sophistication exist for Internet search engines that enable a user to more readily obtain information concerning a specific fact. One of the more popular search engines includes Google®. There are a number of different types of searches that may be conducted on the Google® search engine. For example, one search offered by Google® allows a user to search for particular products or services within particular geographic areas. For example, a person can search for restaurants in a particular geographic area. Another search offered by Google® is Google® Answers. For this search, a user enters a question to be answered, along with a price bid for answering the question. Screened researchers are available to answer the question. Price bids that are set too low may result in a question not being answered. The researchers are screened and approved independent contractors who are paid by the Google® support service for posting answers to the questions. Registered users of the search service can ask questions and post comments to the site, but they are not allowed to post answers. The answers provided can be rated by the customers, and follow-up questions may be asked also on a price basis.
In addition to standard Internet search engines, there are enhanced search services that may be used in order to obtain information about facts that may be less well known. One enhanced search service includes Mojo Knows™. This particular service utilizes the Google® search engine, as well as other information sources enabling a user of the service to obtain an answer to a specific question. The user simply forwards the question to the Mojo Knows™ service, preferably by a mobile communication device, and then Mojo Knows™ responds to the customer's inquiry utilizing Google® and other information sources.
In the known Internet search engines as well as the enhanced search services, the information obtained about the fact in question is location independent. In other words, the question of fact that must be answered is a question that can be answered without a person having to be physically present at a particular location. For example, in the Google® search mentioned above, a customer requesting information about restaurants in a particular geographic area does not require a Google® representative to actually visit restaurants in the geographical area at that time; rather, a listing of restaurants in the particular area is information which is available through other sources such as a telephone listing.
There are many questions of fact that are location dependent and require a person to be physically located at the particular location in order to answer the question of fact. For example, if a person wished to know about available parking for an event such as a concert or sporting event and the person wished to know the parking status at a particular time just before the start of the event, a person located in the parking area of the concert is best qualified to provide a report on the parking status at that time. The Google® search engine is unable to provide information regarding such a location and time dependent fact.
There are many other types of location dependent facts that cannot be answered by an Internet search engine, or other Internet-based search services. Further for example, someone may wish to obtain information on the status of their home, and the status requires observation of the home at that time to answer the fact, such as whether the homeowner inadvertently left a fence gate open enabling a pet to roam, or whether the homeowner remembered to turn off a sprinkler/irrigation system.
Therefore, there is a need for an information service that can provide the customer of the service real time information on location dependent facts. These and other needs are addressed by the various embodiments of the present invention.